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Full-Text Articles in Cognitive Psychology

Oculomotor Mechanisms Underlying Attentional Costs In Distracted Visual Search, Joanna Lewis Jan 2018

Oculomotor Mechanisms Underlying Attentional Costs In Distracted Visual Search, Joanna Lewis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Performance consequences have been long established when humans multitask. This research concerns the impact of distraction on the attentional shifts during a task that underlies many cognitive processes and everyday tasks, searching for a target item among non-target items (e.g., scanning the road for potential collisions). There is evidence that increasing the mental workload by introducing additional tasks influences our ability to search our environment or interferes with processing fixated information. In the current studies, I aimed to evaluate the changes in gaze behaviors during visual search to evaluate how multitasking impairs our attentional processes. Participants completed a visual search …


Working Memory Capacity And Executive Attention As Predictors Of Distracted Driving, Jennifer Louie Jan 2018

Working Memory Capacity And Executive Attention As Predictors Of Distracted Driving, Jennifer Louie

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The present study empirically examined the effects of working memory capacity (WMC) and executive attention on distracted driving. Study 1 examined whether a Grocery List Task (GLT) distractor would load onto WMC. Forty-three participants completed a series of WMC tasks followed by the GLT. They then completed two driving trials: driving without the GLT and driving while completing the GLT. It was hypothesized that WMC would positively correlate with GLT performance. A bivariate correlation indicated that WMC was positively associated with performance on the GLT. Study 2 tested a series of distractor tasks (GLT, Tone Monitoring, and Stop Signal) to …


Eye Movements And Spatial Ability: Influences On Thinking During Analogical Problem Solving, Bradford Schroeder Jan 2018

Eye Movements And Spatial Ability: Influences On Thinking During Analogical Problem Solving, Bradford Schroeder

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Classic studies have examined the factors that influence the way in which people can solve difficult "insight" problems, which require creative solutions. Recent research has shown that guiding one's eye movements in a pattern spatially congruent with the solution improves the likelihood of formulating a spatial solution. The authors in this line of research argued that guiding eye movements in a pattern spatially equivalent to the solution of the problem yields an embodied cognitive benefit that aids problem solving. Specifically, guiding eye movements leads to the generation of a mental representation containing perceptual information that helps a problem solver mentally …


Psychometric Properties Of A Working Memory Span Task, Juan M. Alzate Vanegas Jan 2018

Psychometric Properties Of A Working Memory Span Task, Juan M. Alzate Vanegas

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The intent of this thesis is to examine the psychometric properties of a complex span task (CST) developed to measure working memory capacity (WMC) using measurements obtained from a sample of 68 undergraduate students at the University of Central Florida. The Grocery List Task (GLT) promises several design improvements over traditional CSTs in a prior study about individual differences in WMC and distraction effects on driving performance, and it offers potential benefits for studying WMC as well as the serial-position effect. Currently, the working memory system is composed of domain-general memorial storage processes and information-processing, which involves the use of …


Memory Of Words: A Categorization Task, Paulina Maxim Jan 2018

Memory Of Words: A Categorization Task, Paulina Maxim

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Through the years, the Deese-Roediger-McDermott Paradigm has demonstrated to be a useful method of observing false memories from semantically related word lists. The present study was conducted fully online and measured memory performance dependent on categorization of words by using groups, as well as dragging words across the page as a form of interaction. In a 2 (Categorized, Non-Categorized) x 2 (Interactive, Non-Interactive) between-subject factorial experiment, 56 undergraduate students were shown 18 different lists of 15 associative words to be studied, one list at a time. Participants were given a free recall test immediately after studying each individual list. Participants …


Understanding Human Performance And Social Presence: An Analysis Of Vigilance And Social Facilitation, Victoria Claypoole Jan 2018

Understanding Human Performance And Social Presence: An Analysis Of Vigilance And Social Facilitation, Victoria Claypoole

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Social facilitation is characterized by improved performance on simple, or well-known, tasks and impaired performance on complex, or unfamiliar, tasks. Previous research has demonstrated that the use of social presence may improve performance on cognitive-based tasks that are relevant to many organizational contexts, such as vigilance. However, to date, there has not been consolidation of the research regarding the different implementations of social facilitation, or any analysis indicating which types of social presence are best under varying conditions. The present dissertation describes three experiments that seek to contribute to a taxonomic framework of social facilitation. Experiment One statistically established a …


The Role Of Content Modality On The Likability Of An Online Communicator, Rebecca L. Pharmer Jan 2018

The Role Of Content Modality On The Likability Of An Online Communicator, Rebecca L. Pharmer

Honors Undergraduate Theses

With the growing popularity of social media platforms like Facebook, human interaction in online environments is increasing. As a result, social perceptions of the individuals "behind the screen" has become a topic that needs to be explored. The present study explores how the media platform (specifically Facebook post versus Video) affects perceptions of an individual with a controversial opinion. Potentially, the same content in a video format may increase the likability of the presenter in contrast to reading the same opinions in Facebook posts. The present study examined the role of alignment of opinion (agree vs. disagree with presenter) and …


Categorical Change: Exploring The Effects Of Concept Drift In Human Perceptual Category Learning, Andrew Wismer Jan 2018

Categorical Change: Exploring The Effects Of Concept Drift In Human Perceptual Category Learning, Andrew Wismer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Categorization is an essential survival skill that we engage in daily. A multitude of behavioral and neuropsychological evidence support the existence of multiple learning systems involved in category learning. COmpetition between Verbal and Implicit Systems (COVIS) theory provides a neuropsychological basis for the existence of an explicit and implicit learning system involved in the learning of category rules. COVIS provides a convincing account of asymptotic performance in human category learning. However, COVIS – and virtually all current theories of category learning – focus solely on categories and decision environments that remain stationary over time. However, our environment is dynamic, and …